Railroad car retarder



Dec. 28, 1965' J. DEVANEY 3,225,873

RAILROAD GAR RETARDER Filed Feb. 27, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fi .Z '14 32 32 I4 1 IH' III! In [\Hl. H

V i 30 3o 25 Z5 Inventor John L. Devarzei jH-tor'negas Dec. 28, 1965 J. L. DEVANEY 3,225,873

RAILROAD CAR RETARDER Filed Feb. 27, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 n "U ifl' gai Fi .1, I

I I l l I I Inventor 66 as John L Devaneg/ 85/ wallue, 844490140 8 JHiOrnegS J. L- DEVANEY 3,225,873

RAILROAD CAR RETARDER Dec. 28, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Elg .10

Filed Feb. 27, 1964 Inventor John L-pevdflel/ B2 walim 4.13m

flHiomegS United States Patent 3,225,873 RAILROAD CAR RETARDER John L. Devaney, Downey, Calif., assignor to American Brake Shoe Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 27, 1964, Ser. No. 347,724 3 Claims. (Cl. 188-62) This invention relates to railway braking apparatus, and more particularly, to inert car retarders for frictionally applying a decelerating force on car wheels of a railroad car.

Inert retarder devices of the general type to which this invention. has particular applicability, include a pair of spaced braking or retarding elements extending along a portion of a traflic rail of a railroad track over which the car wheels move. The retarding elements are carried on the upper portions of levers medially pivoted, and the levers are biased at their lower ends to position the retarder elements so that the normal spacing between the retarder elements is less than the width of a car wheel. Thus, as a car wheel enters the retarder device, the car wheel forces the braking elements to move outwardly from the traflic rail as the levers rotate about their intermediate portions to compress a biasing spring disposed between their lower end portions while the braking elements apply a decelerating force on the car wheels.

Retarders of this general type are required to be relatively maintenance free, and require sturdy construction to withstand the forces involved when decelerating railroad cars. Moreover, it is advantageous that the retarder be capable of ready adjustment to aid in its installation, and to compensate for wear of the brake elements after considerable usage thereof.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved retarder which is of rugged construction and which is readily adjustable to control the spacing between retarder elements, and thereby the amount of braking force applied by the braking elements to the wheels of a railroad car. Another object of the present invention is to adjustably support the lever arms for the braking elements of the retarder on off-set portions of a pair of oppositely disposed pivot inserts secured in a supporting element.

A further object of the invention is an improved mounting means for the lever arms of a retarder, including oppositely disposed pivot inserts adapted to interlock with a support element to hold the retarder arms in an adjusted position, said inserts adapted to be unlocked and rotated in unison to move the lever arms to an adjusted position.

According to the preferred embodiment of the invention, a retarder for decelerating a railroad car includes a pair of opposed brake elements for frictionally engaging the sides of the wheel of a railroad car, the retarding elements being carried on the upper portions of lever arms pivoted at their center portions and biased by a compression spring at their lower ends. The lever arms are supported in brackets which have a pair of spaced lugs thereon. Each of the lugs has an aperture therein to receive a pivot insert which has a cylindrical portion for pivotally mounting the lever arm. The inserts are rotatably adjustable to change the pivot location of the levers and thereby adjust the relative spacing between the braking elements and the force applied to the car wheel of a railroad car.

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show a preferred embodiment of the present invention and the principles thereof and what is now considered to be the best mode contemplated for applying these principles. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a portion of a railroad track with a car retarder constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an end elevational View partly in section, of the car retarder;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of a lever arm assembly portion of the car retarder;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of a mounting element for a lever arm;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a mounting element having a lever arm pivotally mounted on a pair of opposed inserts, according to the preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is an end elevational view taken along the lines 66 of FIG. 4 in the direction of the arrows showing the star configuration in a mounting lug;

FIG. 7 is an elevational view of an insert constructed in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 is an end elevational view taken along the line 88, FIG. 7, in the direction of the arrows, showing interlocking projections on the insert;

FIG. 9 is an end elevational view of a lever arm;

FIG. 10 is an end elevational view taken along the line 10-10 in FIG. 9, in the direction of the arrows and showing a lever arm; and

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating the adjustment of the lever arms in response to rotation of the inserts employed in the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a retarder 12 including a pair of opposed braking elements 14 oppositely disposed and extending generally along a significant portion of the length of a traffic rail 16 which is secured to the cross-ties 17 of a railroad track.

The braking elements 14 are normally disposed to have their respective wheel engaging surfaces 18 spaced apart a distance less than the width of a wheel of a railroad car. To facilitate entry of a wheel into the retarder, the end portions 20 of the braking elements 14 are fiared. The flared end portions 20 of the braking elements 14 constitute an entrance mouth or channel for the car wheel so that the car wheel is not squeezed upwardly off the traffic rail 16 as the car wheel enters between the braking elements 14. Both ends of the braking elements 16 are flared to constitute an entrance mouth for railroad car wheels, since a car might be moving in the retrograde direction into the retarder as well a in the usual forward direction.

As best seen in FIG. 2, the braking elements 14 are preferably used railroad rails although other beams or braking shoe elements of different configurations can be employed. Each of the retarding elements 14 is secured to a plurality of suitably spaced lever arms 25 pivotally mounted for rotation at their intermediate portions 26, and biased at their lower end portions 28 by a compression spring 36. The levers 25 have a horizontal cross-bar portion 30 at their upper ends at right angles to the vertical portion, FIG. 10. The cross-bar portion 30 has a pair of spaced apertures 31 adapted to receive vertically oriented fastening bolts 32 inserted through the apertures 3 31. Tightening of nuts on the bolts 32 secures the braking elements 14 to their associated levers 25.

Each of the lever arms 25 has a central aperture 26, FIG. 9, in its intermediate portion 26 for receiving cylindrical bosses 38, FIG. 5, of a pair of inserts which is inserted in apertures in lugs 42 of .a supporting element or bracket 44. Thus, each lever 25 is rotatably mounted on the cylindrical bosses 38 between a pair of projecting lugs 42 of a support element 44.

The support element 44 includes a plate portion 45 adapted to be positioned against the web portion of the traffic rail 16 opposite the plate 45 of another aligned plate 45 to align pairs of spaced apertures 46 disposed outwardly of the projecting lugs 42 of the respective plates 45. When the opposed mounting elements 44 are positioned with their respective plates 45 against the web of a trafiic rail 16, bolts 48 are inserted through apertures in the elements 44 and through aligned apertures in the web of the traffic rail 16. A washer 49 and fastener nut are placed on the bolts 48 and the nuts are tightened to securely fasten the mounting elements 44 opposite one another and to the traffic rail 16.

The cylindrical portions or bosses 38, on which the lever 25 is mounted, are offset with respect to their respectively adjacent cylindrical portions 50, which are of a larger diameter and which are adapted to be received within suitably dimensioned apertures 52 and in the lugs 42. The lugs 42 have formed in the outer surface walls 53 of the lugs 42, about the apertures 52, a plurality of recesses 55 formed in a star shape. The recesses 55 in the lugs 42 are adapted to receive mating projections 56 of a complementary shape on an insert 40 adapted to have its cylindrical portion disposed in aperture 52 in the lug 42.

When pivotally mounting a lever arm 25, the lever arm 25 is positioned between the lugs 42 and the bosses 33 of inserts 40 are inserted through the apertures 52 in the lugs 42 and inserted into the aligned aperture 26 in the lever arm 25. When the bosses 38 are fully inserted into the aperture 26' of the lever arm 25, the projections 56 on the inserts 40 are inserted into the starshaped cavities in the lugs 42 and the inner surface of annular rings 60 on the inserts 40 are in flush engagement with the outer surfaces 53 of the lugs 42.

To maintain the relative index position between the opposed inserts 40 and to prevent the inserts 40 from moving outwardly of the apertures 52 in the lugs 42, the inserts 40 are each secured to a square shaft 63 disposed in complementary shaped openings 62 in the inserts 40. Preferably, the pivot pin inserts 40 have apertures 65, FIG. 7, in their respective outer square-shaped lugs 66 to receive a cotter key 68 inserted through the aligned apertures in the pivot inserts 40 and square shaft 63. Thus, the shaft 63 and opposed cotter keys 68 serve to lock said pivot inserts 40 against moving axially inward or outward relative to one another.

As is readily apparent from FIGS. 7 and 8, the symmetrical axis for the cylindrical boss 38 is offset with respect to the symmetrical axis or center line of the cylindrical portion 50. Thus, rotation of the pivot inserts 40 in the apertures 52 causes the cylindrical bosses 38 to orbit about the axis of the cylindrical portions 50. As seen in FIG. 11, a change in position of the bosses 38 changes the pivot axis of the levers 25. The increment of change of position of the bosses being limited to a one tooth rotation of the projections 56.

To adjust the pivot axis of the lever arms, the rightmost cotter key 68 is removed and the right insert 40, FIG. 5, is pried rightwardly along the shaft 63 by a suitable instrument inserted between the flange 60 and the wall 53 of the lug 42. The right hand insert 40 is moved sutficiently outward to disengage its projections 56 from the mating recesses 55 in the lug 42. The shaft 63 is then driven leftwardly by hammering on its right end to carry the left insert 49 leftwardly and to separate its projections 56 from its associated recesses 55 in the lefthand lug 42. With the projections 56 on each of the pivot inserts 40 disengaged from the openings 55 in the lugs 42, a wrench is employed on the square-shaped projections 66 of one of the inserts 40 to rotate the shaft 63 and inserts 40 in the apertures 52 and respective lugs 42 to the desired position.

As the inserts 40 and shaft 63 are rotated, the cylindrical portions 50 revolve in the apertures 52 while the offset cylindrical bosses 38 orbit about the axis of the cylindrical portion 50 to move the pivot axis of the lever arm 25 and thereby bring the retarder elements 14 closer together or separate them farther apart. More specifically, when the cylindrical bosses 38 are in the middle position, shown in FIG. 11, the lever arms are disposed generally vertical and the pivot axis is at its lowest point. When the cylindrical portions 38 are rotated to the position shown in the left-hand portion of FIG. 11, the retarder elements 14 are disposed at their maximum width adjustment with the lever arms 24 canted divergently outward at their top portions 30, the bottom portions 28 of the levers 25 being held at a constant spacing by the shaft 29 on which is positioned the compression spring 36.

With the cylindrical portions 38 rotated to the positions closest to the centrally disposed traffic rail, the respective retarder elements 14 are brought closer together with the canting of the upper portions 30 of the levers 25 towards one another while the bottom portions 28 remain at a fixed spacing as limited by the shaft 29.

Preferably, the cylindrical bosses 38 are dimensioned with a diameter of a size considerably less than the diameter of an aperture 26' in a lever 25 so as to provide a loose fit Within the aperture 26' of the lever arm 25. Since the aperatures 26' are oversized, each lever arm 25 is permitted to move in a longidtudinal X and Y direction, FIG. 5, as a car wheel enters the retarder so that excessive stress does not build up on the cylindrical surfaces 38. Although the apertures 26' are somewhat larger than the diameter of the cylindrical surfaces 38, the lever arms are nevertheless effectively supported for pivotal action about the cylindrical portions 38.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the present retarder can be readily adjusted to change the pivot axis for the lever arms 25 so as to change the spacing between the retarder elements 14 carried on the upper portions 30 of the levers 25. Also, it will be seen that the associated interlocking projections 56 and recesses 55 provide an interlocking means between the pivot inserts 40 and the lugs 42. Furthermore, the square shaft 63 serves to retain the inserts against displacement and to assure that the inserts 58 rotate in unison so that the respective cylindrical portions 38 will be disposed to be aligned and retain their alignment after adjustment.

Hence, while preferred embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated, it is to be understood that these are capable of variation and modification, and I therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details set forth, but desire to avail myself of such changes and alterations as fall within the purview of the following claims.

I claim:

1. An adjustable mounting means for a lever arm pivotable about its middle portion, one of a pair of opposed braking elements secured to the upper end of said lever arm and adapted to engage a side of a car wheel of a railroad car, said adjustable mounting means including a bracket means adapted to be secured to the traffic rail, a pair of spaced lugs projecting outwardly from said traffic rail, said spaced lugs being provided with axially aligned apertures therein, opposed inserts inserted in each of the apertures in the lugs and each having integral portions thereon adapted to extend toward one another and'to be disposed in an aperture in a lever arm for pivotally mounting the lever arm, said integral portions being of a smaller diameter than the diameter of said apertures to permit said lever arms to turn in a longitudinal direction on said integral portions to reduce stresses on said integral portions, said portions pivotally mounting the lever arm being disposed on an axis adapted to orbit about the center line of said axially aligned openings in said lugs so that rotation of said inserts changes the position of said axis and changes the position of said retarder elements relative to one another, said inserts each having an integral interlocking surface and said lugs each having interlocking surfaces thereon, said interlocking surfaces preventing rotation of said inserts in said apertures in said lugs so that the inserts may be locked in each of the adjusted positions.

2. In a retarder mechanism having a pair of opposed retarding elements adapted to be spaced on opposite sides of a portion of a traffic rail and spaced slightly above the traffic rail to engage the sides of the car wheel to apply a decelerating force to the car wheel engaged thereby, a pair of opposed bracket means secured to the traflic rail, each of said bracket means having a pair of opposed lugs extending normally outward from the traffic rail, said lugs having openings therein, a lever means disposed between the spaced lugs of each of said bracket means and mounted for pivotal rotation about said bracket means at the middle portion of each of said lever means, each of said lever means having an upper portion secured to a retarding element for moving said retarding element about its pivotal connection with said bracket means, each of said lever means having lower portions disposed beneath said traffic rail, a compression spring disposed beneath the trafiic rail and between opposed lower portions of the opposed lever means for rotating said lever means to move said retarding elements toward one another, bolt and nut means mounted between the lower ends of said lever means for limiting the rotation of said levers by said compression spring to a predetermined maximum amount of rotation, inserts disposed in the apertures of each of said lugs and having an offset portion adapted to be inserted into a lever means disposed between its associated lugs, a shaft means disposed between each of said inserts to hold said inserts in rotatably aligned positions with respect to each other, and interlocking surfaces on each of said lugs and inserts to lock said inserts against rotation so long as said interlocking surfaces are in mating engagement with one another.

3. In a retarder mechanism having a pair of opposed retarding elements adapted to be spaced on opposite sides of a portion of a traflic rail and spaced slightly above the traffic rail to engage the sides of the car wheel and to apply a decelerating force to the car wheel engaged thereby, a pair of opposed bracket means, each of said bracket means having a pair of opposed lugs with openings therein, a lever means disposed between the spaced lugs of each of said bracket means and mounted for pivotal rotation about said bracket means at the middle portion of said lever means, each of said lever means having an upper portion secured to a retarding element for moving said retarding element about its pivotal connection with said bracket means, each of said lever means having lower portions disposed beneath said traffic rail, a compression spring disposed beneath the traflic rail and between opposed lower portions of the opposed lever means, said compression spring urging said opposed lever means to rotate and to bring said retarding rails toward one another, bolt and nut means mounted between the lower ends of said lever means for limiting the rotation of said lever means by said compression spring to a predetermined maximum amount of rotation, inserts disposed in the apertures of each of said lugs and having an offset portion adapted to be inserted into a lever means disposed between its associated lugs, a non-circular shaft means disposed between each of said inserts to hold said inserts in rotatably aligned positions with respect to each other, interlocking surfaces on each of said lugs and inserts to lock said inserts against rotation so long as said interlocking surfaces are in mating engagement with one another, and means for securing said inserts to said shaft means to prevent outward movement of said inserts along said shaft means and thereby disengagement of said interlocking surfaces.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,107,751 10/1961 Garrett et al. 188-62 3,125,185 3/1964 Creedle et a1. 188-62 MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner.

EUGENE G. BOTZ, Examiner. 

1. AN ADJUSTABLE MOUNTING MEANS FOR A LEVER ARM PIVOTABLE ABOUT ITS MIDDLE PORTION, ONE OF A PAIR OF OPPOSED BRAKING ELEMENTS SECURED TO THE UPPER END OF SAID LEVER ARM AND ADAPTED TO ENGAGE A SIDE OF A CAR WHEEL OF A RAILROAD CAR, SAID AJDUSTABLE MOUNTING MEANS INCLUDING A BRACKET MEANS ADAPTED TO BE SECURED TO THE TRAFFIC RAIL, A PAIR OF SPACED LUGS PROJECTING OUTWARDLY FROM SAID TRAFFIC RAIL, SAID SPACED LUGS BEING PROVIDED WITH AXIALLY ALIGNED APERTURES THEREIN, OPPOSED INSERTS INSERTED IN EACH OF THE APERTURES IN THE LUGS AND EACH HAVING INTEGRAL PORTIONS THEREON ADAPTED TO EXTEDN TOWARD ONE ANOTHER AND TO BE DISPOSED IN AN APERTURE IN A LEVER ARM FOR PIVOTALLY MOUNTING THE LEVER ARM, SAID INTEGRAL PORTIONS BEING OF A SMALLER DIAMETER THAN THE DIAMETER OF SAID APERTURES TO PERMIT SAID LEVER ARMS TO TURN IN A LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION ON SAID INTEGRAL PORTIONS TO REDUCE STRESSES ON SAID INTEGRAL PORTIONS, SAID PORTIONS TO REDUCE MOUNTING THE LEVER ARM BEING DISPOSED ON AN AXIS ADAPTED TO ORBIT ABOUT THE CENTER LINE OF SAID AXIALLY ALIGNED OPENINGS IN SAID LUGS SO THAT ROTATION OF SAID INSERTS CHANGES THE POSITION OF SAID AXIS AND CHANGES THE POSITION OF SAID RETARDER ELEMENTS RELATIVE TO ONE ANOTHER, SAID INSERTS EACH HAVING AN INTEGRAL INTERLCOKING SURFACE AND SAID LUGS EACH HAVING INTERLOCKING SURFACES THEREON, SAID INTERLOCKING SURFACES PREVENTING ROTATION OF SAID INSERTS IN SAID APERTURS IN SAID LUGS SO THAT THE INSERTS IN SAID IN EACH OF THE ADJUSTED POSITIONS. 